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Lakeland Woman's Jerky Company Builds Following at Market

Deborah Wilk, 42, owner of Wook's Beef Jerky, talks about her business as she packs jerky for weekend sales events on Thursday in Lakeland. Wilk makes beef jerky and chicken dog treats to sell at farmer's markets.

Published: Sunday, June 8, 2014 at 11:51 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, June 8, 2014 at 11:51 p.m.

LAKELAND ­| When William "Wook" Wilk was stationed in Korea with the Air Force, he sometimes mailed packages home to his wife and their young son.

Deborah Wilk, William's wife, said her son, Michael, was especially excited when the shipment contained a bag of hickory-flavored beef jerky, something his father regularly manufactured for his fellow servicemen. At the time, Deborah Wilk didn't imagine she would one day create a business based on her husband's recipes for jerky.

That, though, is how it transpired. Deborah Wilk is the owner of Wook's Beef Jerky, a business well known to regular patrons of the Lakeland Downtown Farmer's Curb Market. Michael Wilk usually staffs the booth, where he sells four flavors of beef jerky — along with mushroom jerky for the vegetarians — as well as dog treats.

Wilk's jerky products are sold at markets throughout the state, and she offers online sales through her website (www.wooksbeefjerky.com). Though her business has grown steadily since she launched it three years ago, she isn't satisfied yet.

"I want to be a big boy one of these days," Wilk said of her business aspirations.

Wilk, 42, didn't set out to pursue a career in food production. She has a master's degree in counseling and worked for five years as a guidance counselor, most recently in Connecticut. Eventually, though, she became emotionally fatigued from the work and looked to do something else.

Around that time, William Wilk retired from the Air Force as a 100-percent disabled veteran. He continued to get requests from former colleagues and other friends for jerky. The couple had plans to settle in Lakeland, where some of Deborah Wilk's relatives lived.

Noting the popularity of the dehydrated foods, she had an idea.

"I said, 'Why don't I turn this into a business when we move down to Florida?' and he said, 'OK,' " Wilk recalled. "So that's basically what I did. I took all his recipes and kind of improved on them and turned them into a business."

STARTING SMALL

Paying tribute to her husband's nickname, Deborah Wilk used $2,500 in savings to open Wook's Beef Jerky in 2011. She operated briefly out of an American Legion Post before moving to her current location, a roughly 1,000-square-foot former hair salon in a nondescript building on Gary Road.

Wilk, who has no other full-time employees, generally spends Monday through Thursday in the modified kitchen preparing jerky.

Jerky is dried and usually salted lean meat. The removal of water means jerky remains edible a long time.

Wilk began with a single, small dehydrator that cost about $300. She soon upgraded to a larger model and eventually purchased a commercial-grade dehydrator the size of a typical refrigerator.

Wilk obtains her beef from a meat market in Plant City and her mushrooms from the Plant City Farmers Market. She said she processes 300 to 600 pounds of beef a week and about 100 pounds of mushrooms. The amount of chicken she processes for dog treats varies depending on demand.

It takes 4 to 5 pounds of beef to make one pound of beef jerky, Wilk said. Likewise, 1˝ pounds of mushrooms dries into a 1.5-ounce bag of jerky,

Wilk still uses her smaller dehydrators for making pet treats. She hopes to add a second commercial-grade machine soon to increase her production capacity.

Wook's has a standard price of $7 for all the products: 3.5-ounce bag of beef jerky, 1.5-ounce bag of mushroom jerky or 2.5-ounce bag of pet treats. The latter come in three varieties — beef, chicken and chicken liver.

In addition to the Lakeland market, Wook's jerky is regularly sold at markets in Jacksonville, Wesley Chapel, Tampa and other locations.

Wilk's products are certified through the Florida Department of Agriculture. She is making improvements to her kitchen to achieve certification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a step that would allow the jerky to be sold in stores.

Wilk said she has declined an offer from a company in West Palm Beach to form a partnership and manufacture the jerky.

"I don't think I'll ever work myself out of being involved in it," she said.

Wilk said her jerky is more healthful than mass-manufactured versions. One serving of Wook's beef jerky has 70 milligrams of sodium, compared to 500 milligrams or more in a typical brand. Wilk said she also avoids sodium nitrite, a commonly used food additive.

One serving of Wook's beef jerky contains 45 calories, compared to 80 calories in one serving of Jack Link's Original Beef Jerky.

FLAVORFUL FUNGUS

Wilk said the mushroom jerky traces to her husband's experiences while serving in Korea. Dried mushrooms are a popular element of Korean cuisine, and William Wilk began making mushroom jerky during his time there.

Deborah Wilk said she decided to make the jerky after noticing how many vegetarians shop at the markets where she sells her beef jerky.

"They either love it or hate it," she said of reactions to the mushroom jerky. "There is no in-between. The vegetarians and vegans love it."

William Wilk said a Google search found no other company selling mushroom jerky.

Dan Varner of Lakeland said he buys two bags of Wook's beef jerky nearly every week at the Lakeland Downtown Farmer's Curb Market. And if he runs out during the week, he'll head to Wilk's shop to buy some.

Varner said his fiancee's chihuahua refuses to eat any other treats since being introduced to Wook's pet jerky.

Varner said he recently stopped at a convenience before going fishing and impulsively bought a bag of name-brand beef jerky.

"It was satisfying, but it didn't compare to hers," Varner said. "From now on out, if I want jerky it will only be Wook's."

Wilk said she sells her pet treats wholesale to a Naples company, Top Dog Kitchen. One local store, The Doggie Bag in Lakeland, also carries the jerky for pets.

Heather Moran, the shop's owner, said she was happy to learn about the locally made treats. She said her customers look for pet snacks made in America following reports of toxic treats imported from China.

Moran said the Wook's pet jerky has been selling extremely well.

"(Wilk) came in here and introduced herself, and it was exactly what we were looking for because not only is it (made in the) U.S.A. but it is a local company you can support and be proud to say we have their treats," Moran said. "It was love at first sight. It was perfect."

[ Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. He blogs about tourism at http://tourism.blogs.theledger.com. ]

<p>LAKELAND ­| When William "Wook" Wilk was stationed in Korea with the Air Force, he sometimes mailed packages home to his wife and their young son.</p><p>Deborah Wilk, William's wife, said her son, Michael, was especially excited when the shipment contained a bag of hickory-flavored beef jerky, something his father regularly manufactured for his fellow servicemen. At the time, Deborah Wilk didn't imagine she would one day create a business based on her husband's recipes for jerky.</p><p>That, though, is how it transpired. Deborah Wilk is the owner of Wook's Beef Jerky, a business well known to regular patrons of the Lakeland Downtown Farmer's Curb Market. Michael Wilk usually staffs the booth, where he sells four flavors of beef jerky — along with mushroom jerky for the vegetarians — as well as dog treats.</p><p>Wilk's jerky products are sold at markets throughout the state, and she offers online sales through her website (www.wooksbeefjerky.com). Though her business has grown steadily since she launched it three years ago, she isn't satisfied yet.</p><p>"I want to be a big boy one of these days," Wilk said of her business aspirations.</p><p>Wilk, 42, didn't set out to pursue a career in food production. She has a master's degree in counseling and worked for five years as a guidance counselor, most recently in Connecticut. Eventually, though, she became emotionally fatigued from the work and looked to do something else.</p><p>Around that time, William Wilk retired from the Air Force as a 100-percent disabled veteran. He continued to get requests from former colleagues and other friends for jerky. The couple had plans to settle in Lakeland, where some of Deborah Wilk's relatives lived.</p><p>Noting the popularity of the dehydrated foods, she had an idea.</p><p>"I said, 'Why don't I turn this into a business when we move down to Florida?' and he said, 'OK,' " Wilk recalled. "So that's basically what I did. I took all his recipes and kind of improved on them and turned them into a business."</p><p>STARTING SMALL</p><p>Paying tribute to her husband's nickname, Deborah Wilk used $2,500 in savings to open Wook's Beef Jerky in 2011. She operated briefly out of an American Legion Post before moving to her current location, a roughly 1,000-square-foot former hair salon in a nondescript building on Gary Road.</p><p>Wilk, who has no other full-time employees, generally spends Monday through Thursday in the modified kitchen preparing jerky. </p><p>Jerky is dried and usually salted lean meat. The removal of water means jerky remains edible a long time.</p><p>Wilk began with a single, small dehydrator that cost about $300. She soon upgraded to a larger model and eventually purchased a commercial-grade dehydrator the size of a typical refrigerator.</p><p>Wilk obtains her beef from a meat market in Plant City and her mushrooms from the Plant City Farmers Market. She said she processes 300 to 600 pounds of beef a week and about 100 pounds of mushrooms. The amount of chicken she processes for dog treats varies depending on demand.</p><p>It takes 4 to 5 pounds of beef to make one pound of beef jerky, Wilk said. Likewise, 1˝ pounds of mushrooms dries into a 1.5-ounce bag of jerky,</p><p>Wilk still uses her smaller dehydrators for making pet treats. She hopes to add a second commercial-grade machine soon to increase her production capacity.</p><p>Wilk produces four varieties of beef jerky — teriyaki, pepper, hickory and spicy Cajun. Mushroom jerky comes in the same flavors, minus teriyaki.</p><p>Wook's has a standard price of $7 for all the products: 3.5-ounce bag of beef jerky, 1.5-ounce bag of mushroom jerky or 2.5-ounce bag of pet treats. The latter come in three varieties — beef, chicken and chicken liver.</p><p>In addition to the Lakeland market, Wook's jerky is regularly sold at markets in Jacksonville, Wesley Chapel, Tampa and other locations. </p><p>Wilk's products are certified through the Florida Department of Agriculture. She is making improvements to her kitchen to achieve certification from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a step that would allow the jerky to be sold in stores.</p><p>Wilk said she has declined an offer from a company in West Palm Beach to form a partnership and manufacture the jerky.</p><p>"I don't think I'll ever work myself out of being involved in it," she said.</p><p>Wilk said her jerky is more healthful than mass-manufactured versions. One serving of Wook's beef jerky has 70 milligrams of sodium, compared to 500 milligrams or more in a typical brand. Wilk said she also avoids sodium nitrite, a commonly used food additive.</p><p>One serving of Wook's beef jerky contains 45 calories, compared to 80 calories in one serving of Jack Link's Original Beef Jerky.</p><p>FLAVORFUL FUNGUS</p><p>Wilk said the mushroom jerky traces to her husband's experiences while serving in Korea. Dried mushrooms are a popular element of Korean cuisine, and William Wilk began making mushroom jerky during his time there.</p><p>Deborah Wilk said she decided to make the jerky after noticing how many vegetarians shop at the markets where she sells her beef jerky.</p><p>"They either love it or hate it," she said of reactions to the mushroom jerky. "There is no in-between. The vegetarians and vegans love it."</p><p>William Wilk said a Google search found no other company selling mushroom jerky.</p><p>Dan Varner of Lakeland said he buys two bags of Wook's beef jerky nearly every week at the Lakeland Downtown Farmer's Curb Market. And if he runs out during the week, he'll head to Wilk's shop to buy some.</p><p>Varner said his fiancee's chihuahua refuses to eat any other treats since being introduced to Wook's pet jerky.</p><p>Varner said he recently stopped at a convenience before going fishing and impulsively bought a bag of name-brand beef jerky.</p><p>"It was satisfying, but it didn't compare to hers," Varner said. "From now on out, if I want jerky it will only be Wook's."</p><p>Wilk said she sells her pet treats wholesale to a Naples company, Top Dog Kitchen. One local store, The Doggie Bag in Lakeland, also carries the jerky for pets.</p><p>Heather Moran, the shop's owner, said she was happy to learn about the locally made treats. She said her customers look for pet snacks made in America following reports of toxic treats imported from China.</p><p>Moran said the Wook's pet jerky has been selling extremely well.</p><p>"(Wilk) came in here and introduced herself, and it was exactly what we were looking for because not only is it (made in the) U.S.A. but it is a local company you can support and be proud to say we have their treats," Moran said. "It was love at first sight. It was perfect."</p><p>[ Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. He blogs about tourism at http://tourism.blogs.theledger.com. ]</p>